Methods, Systems, and Products Providing Advanced Intelligent Services

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for providing advanced intelligent services. A dialed number is associated with an advanced telephony service. The advanced telephony service is associated with a virtual number in a service providing network. A call to the dialed number is received in a native transport network having limited or no capability of providing advanced telephony service. When the advanced telephony service is required, then the call is routed to the virtual number in the service-providing network to receive the advanced telephony service from the service-providing network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/521,951, filed Sep. 15, 2006, and now issued as U.S. PatentX,XXX,XXX, which is a continuation of U.S. application ser. No.10/245,518, filed Sep. 17, 2002 and now issued as U.S. Patent 7,127,051,with both applications incorporated herein by reference.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document and its figurescontain material subject to copyright protection. The copyright ownerhas no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patentdocument or the patent disclosure, but otherwise reserves all copyrightswhatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systemsand methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to systemsand methods for providing advanced telephony services using elementswithin a service providing network which is separate from the transportnetwork which would normally be used to carry a customer's calls, anexample being providing advanced telephony services to a wirelesscustomer using a wireline network-based universal telephone number.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telecommunications service providers, such as regional bell operatingcompanies (RBOC), competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC),internet-protocol (IP) telephony providers, and the like, utilize avariety of infrastructure elements to support their subscribers. Forexample, an RBOC network typically includes an advanced intelligentnetwork (AIN). The AIN quickly and efficiently routes and terminates aplurality of telephone calls within and between wireline telephonenetworks, the public-switched telephone network (PSTN), long distancecarrier networks, and/or wireless telephone networks. The AIN includes aplurality of interconnected switches, transfer points, service controlpoints (SCPs), databases, and various other network elements to routethe telephone calls to the proper destinations and to provide advancedtelephony services.

By utilizing these components, the AIN is capable of providing aplurality of advanced telephony services to a wireline PSTN subscriberduring a telephone call, such as call delivery services, call forwardingservices, call rescue services, custom ring-pattern services, calllogging services, and call reporting services. The AIN may also providevoicemail services, custom messaging services, message notificationservices, message waiting indicator services, caller identification(caller ID) services, privacy director services, anonymous callrejection services, usage monitoring services, personal identificationnumber (PIN) override services, and the like.

For example, BellSouth's Privacy Director service allows a subscriber toscreen incoming telephone calls. If a telephone call is received from anunknown or a blocked caller, such as a telemarketer, the caller ispresented with a message and a prompt that indicates, “if you [thecaller] want this telephone call to be delivered to our [the wirelinetelephone service provider's] subscriber, you must either record yourname so that we may deliver it to our subscriber or unblock yourtelephone number so that we may look your name up and deliver it to oursubscriber.” The subscriber then has the option of accepting thetelephone call from the now known or unblocked caller, sending thetelephone call to voicemail, or presenting the caller with anannouncement indicating that the subscriber does not accept telephonecalls of this nature.

An example usage monitoring service allows a subscriber to prepay for a“bucket” or predetermined amount of telephone usage time, or to sign anagreement agreeing to pay a plurality of different rates for a pluralityof predetermined levels of telephone usage time. For example, thesubscriber may agree to pay a higher rate for a relatively low level oftelephone usage time and a lower rate for a relatively high level oftelephone usage time. In any case, such a usage monitoring servicerequires a telephone service provider to keep careful track of thesubscriber's telephone usage time, possibly across more than onenetwork, e.g., a wireline and wireless network if the single bucket ofusage time can apply to both wireline and wireless calls.

Unfortunately for many service providers, the infrastructure necessaryto support such advanced telephony features is prohibitively expensive.Many competitive local-exchange carriers, wireless telephone serviceproviders, IP-based telephone service providers, and the like cannotafford the expense of installing and maintaining this infrastructure.Thus, many of the advanced telephony services described above are notavailable to their subscribers. Conversely, embedded infrastructures toprovide such services may exist in other networks and not be fullyutilized because of the inability to reach subscribes in othertelecommunications networks.

Thus, what are needed are systems and methods for providing advancedtelephony services to subscribers in telecommunications systems lackingthe infrastructure to support these advanced services by accessingcapabilities in other networks that can provide such services.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide advanced telephony servicesto telephone numbers served by telecommunications networks lacking theinfrastructure to provide these advanced services directly. For purposesof clarity, the following definitions are made. A service-providingnetwork is a network with the capability of providing advanced telephonyservices to a service subscriber for calls that traverse it. A nativetransport network is a network that naturally carries a subscriber'scalls but does not have the capabilities required to provide advancedservices. In one embodiment, a telephone number in a service-providingnetwork utilizes a service provided by an element in its network. Theservice-providing network element provides the services to a telephonein a second telecommunications network, which is in communication withthe service-providing network, using the same telephone number.

The telecommunications networks providing and utilizing the advancedservices may be wireline or wireless. They may rely on circuit orpacket-switching technologies. Some embodiments may utilize combinationsof several types of networks. The network elements providing theservices may be based on advanced intelligent network (AIN), Internetprotocol (IP), or other relevant standards. For example, in oneembodiment, the network element that provides the advanced service is aservice control point (SCP). In other embodiments, the element may be amedia gateway controller, softswitch, application server, web server,media server, media gateway, or some combination thereof.

An embodiment of the present invention may provide any number ofservices. For example, the services may include one or more of thefollowing: a call delivery service, a call forwarding service, a callrescue service, a custom ring-pattern service, a call logging service, acall reporting service, a voice mail service, a custom messagingservice, a message waiting indicator service, a message notificationservice, a caller identification (caller ID) service, a privacy directorservice, an anonymous call rejection service, and a personalidentification number (PIN) override service.

In one embodiment, the service-providing network monitors the usage(e.g., to provide a billing service) of a telecommunications service inseparate native transport network. For example, a wireline serviceprovider may use an embodiment to monitor usage for a subscriber in awireless network (in addition to within the wireline network.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a service-providing networkmonitors various aspects of a communication for a subscriber whosetelephone number exists in a separate native transport network. In oneembodiment, the service-providing network monitors the start and endtimes of a communication to or from the subscriber's telephone number.By monitoring the start and end times of the communication, theservice-providing network is able to calculate a communication duration.The service-providing network is therefore able to provide a logging,billing, or other service that either already exists or is easilyprovided by the service-providing network, but that would otherwise beprohibitively expensive or otherwise impractical to build in the nativetransport network. In another embodiment, the service-providing networkmonitors the status of a call, such as “Call Complete,” “Line Busy,” or“Call Terminated.”

In an embodiment of the present invention, a subscriber's telephonenumber that exists in a native transport network is associated withadvanced services in another network (a service-providing network). Inone embodiment, a wireline service provider establishes a virtualtelephone number in a first network (e.g., a wireline network) andassociates services with the virtual telephone number. A second serviceprovider, a wireless, wireline, or packet voice-based network thenassociates a subscriber's telephone number in the second network withthe virtual telephone number in the first network. In anotherembodiment, the telephone number in the first network is not a virtualnumber, but instead is the subscriber's number in the first network.When a call is directed to or is made from the second number, the callis routed to the first number so that advanced services can be providedby the first (service-providing) network. Once the service is provided,the call is routed to the original destination. In such an embodiment,therefore, an advanced service that is provided using elements of awireline (service-providing) network is made available to a subscriberwhose telephone number does not exist within that network, but ratherexists within a wireless (native transport) network.

The service provider in the native transport network may associate thetwo telephone numbers through various means. In one embodiment, thenative transport network includes a data store for storing theassociation. This data store may be a database or other appropriate datastorage device. The data store may include additional informationnecessary to effectively and efficiently deliver the advanced service.For example, in one embodiment, the data store includes a user profile.The user profile includes information about the subscriber andassociates the two telephone numbers. The profile may also includeinformation regarding a subscriber's service preferences.

In a method according to the present invention, once the provider of thenative transport network associates the two telephone numbers, callsdirected to the number in the native transport network receive advancedtelephony services provided by a network element in theservice-providing network. After the network element in theservice-providing network provides the services, the call continues tothe intended destination. Modifications to the network messagingaccompanying calls may also be provided to ensure, for example, that acorrect caller ID is displayed at the terminating end of the telephonecall. A system according to the present invention may utilizeconventional switches and other AIN network elements, softswitches, orother application servers, as they are developed and deployed.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the service-providingnetwork provider bills a monthly charge for utilizing an advancedservice or bills a charge each time the service is used. Theservice-providing network provider may also bill for each additionaltelephone number utilizing advanced services from another (nativetransport) network.

Embodiments of the present invention provide numerous advantages overconventional systems and methods. An embodiment provides systems andmethods for providing advanced telephony services, such as thoseprovided in a conventional AIN, to a subscriber in another wireline,wireless, or packet voice-based network without the need for true,prohibitively expensive service-providing elements. The presentinvention also provides systems and methods that allow a large,well-established service provider, with the financial resourcesnecessary to design, deploy, and maintain an infrastructure capable ofsupporting such advanced services, to increase revenue by reaching abroader market that includes wireline, wireless, and packet voice-basedtelephone subscribers, which would be otherwise unreachable.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention provide greatflexibility to a service provider in providing a subscriber access tothese services. The service provider is able to disassociate asubscriber's telephone number from a physical “loop” or telephonynetwork. This disassociation occurs in ordering systems, supportsystems, billing systems, and in the physical “loop” or telephonynetwork. In other words, in various embodiments of the presentinvention, a subscriber's advanced telephony services are availableacross platforms.

Further details and advantages of the present invention are set forthbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention are better understood when the following Detailed Descriptionis read with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a system forproviding advanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribersusing a virtual telephone number;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the system forproviding advanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribersusing a virtual telephone number, highlighting the use of a wirelinetelephone number to provide advanced wireless telephony services to asubscriber;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a further embodiment of the system forproviding advanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribersusing a virtual telephone number, highlighting the use of a wirelinetelephone number to provide advanced wireless telephony services to asubscriber and an alternative wireline telephone or device;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for providingadvanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribers using avirtual telephone number;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of another embodiment of the method for providingadvanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribers using avirtual telephone number, highlighting the use of a wireline telephonenumber to provide advanced wireless telephony services to a subscriber;and

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a further embodiment of the system forproviding advanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribersusing a virtual telephone number, highlighting the use of a wirelinetelephone number to provide advanced IP-based telephony services to asubscriber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the Figures in which like numerals indicate likeelements throughout the several Figures, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagramof one embodiment of a system for providing advanced telephony servicesto a plurality of subscribers. In the embodiment shown, a system 10 forproviding advanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribersincludes a telephone call 12 which is routed into or out of atelecommunications network 14 belonging to a telecommunications serviceprovider. This telecommunications network 14 is also referred to hereinas the service-providing network because all communications that takeadvantage of the advanced telephone services are routed throughtelecommunications network 14. The telecommunications network 14includes a switch and an application server, which is described below.The application server is operable for providing a plurality of advancedtelephony services to a subscriber for each telephone call 12. In an AINenvironment, the application server may be an SCP. Other networkelements, including, but not limited to softswitches, media gatewaycontrollers, web servers, media servers, and media gateways, may also beincluded in telecommunications network 14 to provide the advancedtelephony services. These advanced telephony services may include, forexample, call delivery services, call forwarding services, call rescueservices, custom ring-pattern services, call logging services, and callreporting services. The application server may also provide voicemailservices, custom messaging services, message notification services,message waiting indicator services, caller identification (caller ID)services, privacy director services, anonymous call rejection services,usage monitoring services, personal identification number (PIN) overrideservices, and the like.

The telecommunications network 14 is in communication with a pluralityof callers, subscribers, and/or other individuals via thepublic-switched telephone network (PSTN), which includes incumbent localexchange carriers (ILEC), competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC),and inter-exchange carriers (IXC). In the embodiment shown, thetelecommunications network 14 is directly or indirectly in communicationwith a subscriber's wireline telephones or devices, such a hometelephone 16 or work telephone 18. The telecommunications network 14 isalso in communication with a plurality of callers, subscribers, and/orother individuals via a wireless telephone network. Thetelecommunications network 14 also is directly or indirectly incommunication with the subscriber's wireless telephone or device,cellular telephone 20 in FIG. 1. The telecommunications network 14 isfurther in communication with a plurality of callers, subscribers,and/or other individuals via a packet voice or Internet-protocol(IP)-based telephone network. The telecommunications network 14 isdirectly or indirectly in communication with a subscriber's IP-basedtelephone or device, IP telephone 22 and notification device 24.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a subscriber profile 26 is disposedwithin a database that resides in the telecommunications network 14. Thesubscriber profile 26 contains information related to a subscriber'sadvanced telephony service preferences, e.g., the advanced telephonyservices that are associated with the subscriber's incoming and outgoingtelephone calls. The subscriber adds to, subtracts from, or otherwisemodifies these advanced telephony services preferences via a subscribercontrol 28, such as a wireline link, a wireless link, an Internet webpage, an intranet web page, or the like. The subscriber profile 26 andthe subscriber control 28 provide a subscriber with control over theidentity and nature of the advanced telephony services that are providedto telephone calls associated with the subscriber or with a telephonenumber associated with the subscriber.

Referring to FIG. 2, in one embodiment of the present invention, thesystem 30 for providing advanced telephony services to a plurality ofsubscribers includes a wireline carrier network 32 in communication witha wireless carrier network 34. In the embodiment shown, the wirelinenetwork is the service-providing network and the wireless network is thenative transport network. In other embodiments, both theservice-providing network and the native transport network can be eithera wireline, wireless, packet voice-based, or other type oftelecommunications network. In the embodiment shown, the wirelinenetwork 32 is an advanced intelligent network (AIN). An AIN includes aplurality of hardware and software elements operating over industrystandard communication protocols, including signaling system 7 (SS7).For the sake of brevity, only a basic description of the AIN is providedherein. For further information regarding aspects of the AIN, refer toWeisser, U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,719, which is incorporated herein byreference. Although described in detail with reference to the AIN ofFIG. 2, embodiments of the present invention may utilize other types ofwireline and wireless networks such as packet-switching networks.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the wireline carrier network 32includes a service switching point (SSP) 36 in communication with aservice control point (SCP) 38. The SSP 36 is a central office switchthat provides intelligent network functionality. When a call is placedor received at the SSP 36, the SSP 36 collects the dialed digits andgenerates a trigger. A trigger generates a packet that is sent to theSCP 38. The SCP 38 includes computer processors, application software,and databases that control the routing, monitoring, processing, andtermination of phone calls. In the embodiment shown, the SCP 38 isoperable for providing a plurality of advanced telephony services 40 toa subscriber 42, such as a wireless subscriber in the example shown. Forexample, the SCP 38 may be operable for providing a privacy directorservice or a usage monitoring service to the subscriber 42 and thetelephone call.

In one embodiment, a caller places a call 12 by dialing the subscriber'slisted telephone number, which exists in the wireline network. When thetelephone call 12 encounters the wireline telephone number at the SSP36, a terminating attempt trigger (TAT) or other similar terminatingtrigger is generated. Any and all services for the subscriber issubsequently provided by the network intelligence in the wireline(service-providing) network. Following the application of subscribedadvanced services, the service-providing (wireline) network forwards thecall to the wireless telephone number associated with the wirelinetelephone number, the call is accordingly routed to the native transport(wireless) network and is then completed to the subscriber's wirelesstelephone. Accordingly, advanced services are applied by the wirelinenetwork for a call whose native transport would normally be a wirelessnetwork with limited or no advanced services capabilities.

The wireline carrier network 32 and the SSP 36 are in communication witha plurality of callers, such as a first wireline caller 44 via the PSTN46 and a second wireline caller 48 via a long distance or inter-exchangecarrier network 50. The wireless carrier network 34 is also in directcommunication with a plurality of callers, such as a third caller 52.The wireline carrier network 32 includes components, such as SCP 38,necessary to provide services. A first database 54 resides within thewireless carrier network 34 and a second database 56 resides with thewireline carrier network 32. Both the first database 54 and the seconddatabase 56 are associated with algorithms, which are operable forassociating a wireline or virtual telephone number, with anothertelephone number, such as another wireline telephone number, a wirelesstelephone number, or a packet voice-based telephone number.Alternatively, the algorithms may be operable for associating atelephone number assigned to a wireline network with the wirelessservice provider's subscriber. By assigning a virtual telephone numberor other telephone number to the subscriber's wireless telephone number,the service provider is able to disassociate the services from thephysical device and even the wireless telephone number. Advantageously,advanced telephony services are associated with this virtual telephonenumber. In the example shown, the first database 54, the second database56, and the associated algorithms are operable for associating awireline telephone number with a wireless telephone number associatedwith the subscriber 42.

Referring to FIG. 3, in a further embodiment of the present invention,the system 30 for providing advanced telephony services to a pluralityof subscribers using a virtual telephone number also includes a wirelinetelephone or device 58 belonging to the subscriber 42 and in directcommunication with the wireline carrier network 32 and the SSP 36.Telephone calls to the subscriber 42 at the wireless telephone numberrouted through the wireline carrier network 32 may be terminated to thewireline telephone or device 58 in the event that the subscriber'swireless telephone or device 42 is unavailable.

Referring to FIG. 4, in one embodiment of the present invention, amethod 60 for providing advanced telephony services to a plurality ofsubscribers using a virtual telephone number includes a wirelinetelephone service provider and another wireline telephone serviceprovider (such as a competitive local-exchange carrier (CLEC) or aninter-exchange carrier), a wireless telephone service provider, and/or apacket voice-based telephone service provider reaching a businessagreement regarding the sharing and mutual use of a telephone number,such as a wireline telephone number, with which advanced telephonyservices are associated. (Block 62). The wireline telephone serviceproviders, the wireless telephone service provider, and/or the packetvoice-based telephone service provider each store a subscriber profilein a database residing in the wireline telephone networks 56, thewireless telephone network 54, and/or the packet voice-based telephonenetwork (not shown), respectively. (Block 64). A telephone call that isintended to be completed to the wireless network is received first inthe wireline telephone network 32 (by virtue of the wireless/wirelinenumber association accomplished by Blocks 62, 64, and 68). The wirelesstelephone number, and/or the packet voice-based telephone numberassociated with the telephone call is associated with the wirelinetelephone number to which services are associated (Block 68). Thetelephone number to which services are associated may be, for example,the subscriber's home or business telephone number. However, embodimentsof the present invention are not limited to telephone numbers linked tophysical terminating devices in a home or residence. In one embodiment,the telephone number is a “virtual” telephone number created expresslyto support the association of advanced services in the wireline network32 in an embodiment of the present invention. In another embodiment, thetelephone number is an actual number that is associated with thesubscriber. Although either type of number may be used, for the sake ofsimplicity in describing embodiments of the present invention, thetelephone number to which services are associated will hereinafter bereferred to as the “virtual telephone number.”

Referring again to FIG. 4, the service-providing network (the wirelinetelephone network associated with the virtual directory number) providesadvanced telephony services for the call. The SCP 38, by utilizing thesubscriber profile disposed within the database 56 residing within thewireline telephone network 32 associated with the virtual telephonenumber, and an associated algorithm, provides an advanced telephonyservice to the telephone call. (Block 72). Finally, the SCP 38 or SSP 36routes the telephone call to the appropriate telecommunications network,such as wireline telephone network 32, wireless telephone network 34, orpacket voice-based telephone network (not shown) (Block 74) where thecall is terminated to the appropriate wireline telephone or device,wireless telephone or device, or packet voice-based telephone or device(Block 76).

Changes to the telecommunications networking messages may be necessaryto properly handle the call. For example, after the wireline network 32provides advanced telephony services to the telephone call 12, thewireline network 32 routes the call to the network in communication withthe terminating device. When routing the call back to the terminatingdevices network, the wireline network 32 modifies the messagesaccompanying the call so that the call is not routed back to thewireline network 32 in an endless loop. The wireline network 32 may alsomake other modification. For example, to accurately reflect the partyplacing to call to the subscriber, the caller ID information associatedwith the call may be modified.

Referring to FIG. 5, in an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention, a wireline telephone number is assigned to a wirelesssubscriber, i.e., to a wireless telephone or device having a wirelesstelephone number. (Block 78). Optionally, this wireline telephone numberis disposed within a memory device of the wireless telephone or device.(Block 80). The service provider then configures the wireline carriernetwork 32 such that telephone calls to the wireless telephone numbermay be routed to the wireline carrier network (Block 82) and associatedwith the wireline telephone number. The wireless service provider alsoconfigures the wireless carrier network 36 such that telephone callsoriginating from the wireless telephone or device 42 may be routedthrough the wireline carrier network 34 (Block 84) and associated withthe wireline telephone number. Predetermined advanced telephony servicesare provided to the telephone calls associated with the wirelinedirectory number (Block 86) prior to the telephone calls being routed tothe proper destination.

The processes and the functions of the structures involved inembodiments of the present invention are illustrated below in thefollowing examples.

Wireline Caller Calls Wireless Subscriber:

When a wireline caller 44 calls a wireless subscriber 42 at aconventional wireless telephone number, via the PSTN 46 or a longdistance carrier network 50, the wireless or other service providerroutes the telephone call a wireline carrier network 32 configured toprovide advanced telephony services to a virtual telephone numberassociated with the wireless telephone number. This association iscarried out by a database and an algorithm disposed within the wirelinecarrier network 32 operable for associating the conventional wirelesstelephone number with the virtual telephone number. An SCP 38 provides aplurality of advanced telephony services to the telephone call, such asa privacy director service, a usage monitoring service, an audio callingname service, or the like. The SCP 38 or other network element thenroutes the telephone call to the wireless carrier network 34 associatedwith the conventional wireless telephone number and is terminated to thewireless telephone or device 42 associated with the conventionalwireless telephone number.

Wireless Caller Calls Wireless Subscriber:

When a wireless caller calls the wireless subscriber 42 at theconventional wireless telephone number, via a wireless carrier network34, the conventional wireless telephone number is associated with avirtual telephone number within the wireless carrier network 34. Thisassociation is carried out by a database 54 and an algorithm disposedwithin the wireless carrier network 34 operable for associating theconventional wireless telephone number with the virtual telephonenumber. The wireless carrier network 34 routes the telephone call to thewireline carrier network 32 associated with the virtual telephonenumber, and the SCP 38 provides a plurality of advanced telephonyservices to the telephone call, such as the privacy director service,the usage monitoring service, the audio calling name service, or thelike. The SCP 38 then routes the telephone call to the wireless carriernetwork 34 associated with the conventional wireless telephone numberand to the wireless telephone or device 42 associated with theconventional wireless telephone number.

Wireless Subscriber Calls Wireline Party:

When the wireless subscriber at the conventional wireless telephonenumber calls a wireline party, via the wireless carrier network 34, theconventional wireless telephone number is associated with a virtualtelephone number within the wireline carrier network 32. Thisassociation is carried out by a database 54 and an algorithm disposedwithin the wireless carrier network 34 operable for associating theconventional wireless telephone number with the virtual telephonenumber. The telephone call is then routed to the wireline carriernetwork 32 associated with the virtual telephone number and the SCP 38provides a plurality of advanced telephony services to the telephonecall, such as the privacy director service, the usage monitoringservice, the audio calling name service, or the like. The telephone callis then routed to a wireline carrier network 32, the PSTN 46, and/or along distance carrier network 50 associated with the wireline telephonenumber associated with the wireline party and is terminated to thewireline telephone or device associated with wireline telephone numberassociated with the wireline party.

Wireless Subscriber Calls Wireless Party:

When the wireless subscriber at the conventional wireless telephonenumber calls a wireless party, via the wireless carrier network 34, theconventional wireless telephone number is associated with a virtualtelephone number within the wireline carrier network 32. Thisassociation is carried out by a database 54 and an algorithm disposedwithin the wireless carrier network operable for associating theconventional wireless telephone number with the virtual telephonenumber. The telephone call is then routed to the wireline carriernetwork associated with the virtual telephone number and the SCP 38provides a plurality of advanced telephony services to the telephonecall, such as the privacy director service, the usage monitoringservice, the audio calling name service, or the like. The telephone callis then routed to a wireless carrier network 34 associated with thewireless telephone number associated with the wireless party and isterminated to the wireless telephone or device 42 associated withwireless telephone number associated with the wireless party.

An embodiment of the present invention may include other or additionalfeatures. For example, in one embodiment, the SCP 38 is in communicationwith a web server 100 via a transmissioncontrol-protocol/Internet-protocol (TCP/IP) 102. The subscriber profileand/or the subscriber preferences related to the plurality of advancedtelephony services may be stored in the web server 100. Advantageously,this configuration combines the reliability of the wireline telephoneservice provider's network 32 with the flexibility of the Internet viathe SCP 38.

When a telephone call originates from or is terminated to thesubscriber's wireline telephone number, the web server 100 is queriedfor the subscriber profile and/or the subscriber preferences related tothe plurality of advanced telephony services. The SCP 38 acts as a“protocol interpreter.” The subscriber profile and/or the subscriberpreferences related to the plurality of advanced telephony services maybe added to, subtracted from, and/or modified by the subscriber via, forexample the Internet 104 and a personal computer (PC) 106.

As described above, a usage monitoring service allows a subscriber toprepay for a “bucket” or predetermined amount of telephone usage time,or to sign an agreement agreeing to pay a plurality of different ratesfor a plurality of predetermined levels of telephone usage time. Forexample, the subscriber may agree to pay a higher rate for a relativelylow level of telephone usage time and a lower rate for a relatively highlevel of telephone usage time. In any case, the usage monitoring servicerequires a wireline telephone service provider to keep careful track ofthe subscriber's telephone usage time across various disparate networks,e.g., wireline, wireless, and packet voice-based.

The systems and methods of the present invention allow a wirelinetelephone service provider to keep track of a subscriber's telephoneusage time. Advantageously, this telephone usage time can be tracked andmonitored for any combination of wireline telephone or device, wirelesstelephone or device, or packet voice-based telephone or deviceassociated with the virtual directory number. Preferably, an algorithmdisposed within the wireline telephone network 32 associated with thevirtual telephone number performs this tracking and monitoring, and theresulting data and information is stored in a database 56 within thewireline telephone network 32. The algorithm counts usage minutes anytime a call is received from or routed to the virtual telephone number.Thus, the wireline telephone service provider associated with thevirtual telephone number and other wireline telephone service providers,wireless telephone service providers, and packet voice-based telephoneservice providers using the virtual telephone number may offer auniversal usage monitoring service, covering all of a subscriber'stelephones or devices. Such a usage monitoring service might be abilling service or call logging service. The wireline(service-providing) network in which the virtual telephone number existsis able to perform this functionality since it is embedded within thecall path for the duration of the call and is therefore able to monitorconnection start times, end times, durations, and other call controlsignaling events.

When a service provider provides services, a billing system incommunication with the service provider's network gathers informationnecessary for generating a bill. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, a service management system (SMS) (not shown) creates andmaintains the necessary billing records for each subscriber activatingor using advanced telephony services. In another embodiment, the SCP 38creates and maintains billing records for each subscriber.

Although the present invention has been shown and described withreference to preferred embodiments and examples thereof, otherembodiments and examples may achieve the same results and/or performsimilar functions. Accordingly, changes in and modifications to thepresent invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Thefollowing claims are intended to cover all such equivalent embodimentsand examples.

1. A method for providing an advanced intelligent service, comprising:associating a dialed number with an advanced telephony service;associating the advanced telephony service with a virtual number in aservice providing network; receiving a call to the dialed number in anative transport network having limited or no capability of providingadvanced telephony service; and when the advanced telephony service isrequired, then routing the call to the virtual number in theservice-providing network to receive the advanced telephony service fromthe service-providing network.
 2. The method according to claim 1,further comprising monitoring a start time of the advanced telephonyservice.
 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprisingmonitoring an end time of the advanced telephony service.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising billing a provider of thenative transport network for the advanced telephony service.
 5. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising routing the call to adestination.
 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprisingbilling a subscriber for the advanced telephony service.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising billing a subscriber associatedwith the dialed number for the advanced telephony service.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising retrieving a profile associatedwith the dialed number.
 9. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising retrieving caller identification associated with the dialednumber.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein associating thedialed number with the advanced telephony service comprises associatingthe dialed number with at least one of a call delivery service, a callforwarding service, a call rescue service, a custom ring-patternservice, a call logging service, a call reporting service, a voice mailservice, a custom messaging service, a message waiting indicatorservice, a message notification service, a caller identification (callerID) service, a privacy director service, an anonymous call rejectionservice, an a personal identification number (PIN) override service. 11.The method according to claim 1, wherein routing the call to the virtualnumber in the service-providing network comprises routing the call to atleast one of a wireline network, a wireless network, and apacket-switching network.
 12. The method according to claim 1, whereinreceiving the call to the dialed number in the native transport networkcomprises receiving the call in at least one of a wireline network, awireless network, and a packet-switching network.
 13. A system providinga service to a telephony device, comprising: a server communicating witha database, the server associating a dialed number with an advancedtelephony service, associating the advanced telephony service with avirtual number in a service providing network, receiving a call to thedialed number in a native transport network having limited or nocapability of providing advanced telephony service, and when theadvanced telephony service is required, then the server routes the callto the virtual number in the service-providing network to receive theadvanced telephony service from the service-providing network.
 14. Thesystem according to claim 13, wherein the server monitors a start timeof the advanced telephony service.
 15. The system according to claim 13,wherein the server monitors an end time of the advanced telephonyservice.
 16. The system according to claim 13, wherein the server billsa provider of the native transport network for the advanced telephonyservice.
 17. The system according to claim 13, wherein the server billsa subscriber for the advanced telephony service.
 18. A method,comprising: associating a dialed number with an advanced service;associating the advanced service with a virtual number in a serviceproviding network; receiving a call directed to the dialed number in anunintelligent wireless network; determining the advanced service isrequired; and routing the call from the unintelligent wireless networkto the virtual number in the intelligent network for receiving theadvanced service.
 19. The method according to claim 18, furthercomprising routing the call to a destination.
 20. The method accordingto claim 18, further comprising billing for the advanced telephonyservice.